Chapter 1240

<Chapter 1240> 1240. Dark Moon

After leaving the residence of Viscount Pterlgar, I removed my mask and put on an artificial leather face—a skin disguise. My current appearance was that of a slightly older man.

“Hmph, this is gonna be tough.”

I have to chase after a hidden dark mage. The only information I have is that this dark mage is also a tattooist.

“Let’s just do it half-heartedly… Half-heartedly… Anyway, I’m gonna give up in three days anyway.”

I fiddled with the mobile watch on my left wrist. In this world, it functions as a smartphone. It can project holograms and connect to the internet. Usually paired with smart lenses.

Smart lenses are special contact lenses that project the mobile watch’s screen.

“More intel keeps coming in.”

The bodyguard had been interrogating prostitutes and sent me the compiled information via Room 212. Most of it was about tattooists in this area.

“No leads yet on the friend of the exploded prostitute? There are 21 tattooists in this region. Guess I’ll have to check them one by one.”

Starting with the closest.

I walked down the streets while looking at the map projected by my smart lenses. The city was filled with gray hues—factories were running, and black smoke filled the heavens. Most people walking around were oil-stained workers.

But even in such a place, if you look closely, you’ll find everything: restaurants, bars, convenience stores, etc. I wandered through the alleys, looking around.

I arrived at my first destination. Deep in an alleyway, there was a shabby sign hanging above a tattoo shop.

Many of the machines looked worn out, but surprisingly, the place was packed with customers. I walked past the waiting patrons straight toward the workroom.

“Hey! Just who do you think you are?! Can’t you see people are waiting?!”

A red-haired woman with short hair, who seemed to be an employee, jumped out to block me. She had piercings on her ears and nose, wore revealing clothes, and more than half of her body was covered in tattoos.

Explaining the situation felt like too much trouble. I pulled out my gun from my coat and pointed it at the woman’s forehead.

“Move.”

The woman turned pale and quietly stepped back. The customers waiting outside silently left the tattoo shop. They were familiar with disturbances and knew exactly how to handle the situation.

I kicked open the door to the workroom. A skinny man was inking a tattoo onto a customer’s back when he saw me and panicked.

“W-W-Who are you?! And what’s with the gun?!”

Bang!

The bullet grazed past the tattooist’s temple. His eyes widened in terror.

“Don’t make any sudden moves or else.”

I approached the tattooist. He nervously darted his eyes around. The client lying on the bed noticed the situation and fled.

“Wha-What do you want? Are you part of some new mafia group around here? Our shop isn’t illegal—we’re operating with proper permission. See, we even have certification.”

“If you value your life, don’t try anything funny.”

I grabbed the man’s shoulder tightly.

Mana flowed through the mana conduit into his body without resistance. He was grade zero—an ordinary person who couldn’t sense or use mana.


“Whoa, what do you want? Money?”

“I’m looking for a tattooist. Tell me everything you know about the tattooists in this area.”

“T-tattooist? Why are you looking for one?”

“…I was too gentlemanly.”

Bang!

A bullet pierced his thigh.

“Aaaah!”

“I ask the questions. Answer honestly if you want to live.”

“Guh… Alright, I’ll tell you. The tattooists…”

He told me everything he knew. There were four tattooists not on my list. Illegal ones.

After getting the info, I left the shop.

‘I should prioritize finding the illegal ones.’

“Halt!”

A woman’s voice called from behind.

I slowly turned around. It was the female employee from the tattoo shop, gun pointed at me.

“What’s the meaning of this?! You think you can disrupt someone’s business and get away with it?!”

“No one died. What’s the problem?”

“Are you serious right now?! You shot Jack in the thigh and you’re asking what’s the problem?!”

“Wanna get paid for medical expenses? Sorry, but I don’t have any money.”

She gritted her teeth.

“I swore two years ago that I wouldn’t just be a victim anymore…!”

She pulled the trigger. A bullet flew toward my head. But it never touched me. The barrier magic I’d set up earlier deflected it.

Her eyes widened. She stumbled back, trembling.

“M-mage…?! Why is a mage…?!”

I took steady steps toward her. She bit her lip, pointing the gun and pulling the trigger again. Meaningless. A pistol’s caliber couldn’t penetrate my barrier. Maybe if she had magical bullets, but those aren’t easily obtained by civilians.

Click click.

Out of bullets. She lowered her arm weakly. Her eyes were filled with fear, yet her tightly clenched fists showed unwavering determination.

I grabbed her neck. She choked.

“I don’t care about your past. Even if I did, it wouldn’t change anything. I’m not going to kill you. Shooting me was no real threat. But here’s some advice: stay quiet.”

I released my grip on her neck. She collapsed to the ground, glaring at me.

“Stay quiet?! You’re the one who barged in! Are you saying we should keep getting pushed around by people like you?!”

“Newsflash. That’s how the world works. Don’t wanna get pushed around? Then get stronger.”

I turned my back on her and walked away. I debated killing her several times but decided against it. She was quite pretty. With proper grooming, she could be a decent beauty.

Having failed for the seventh time, I sighed and moved on to the eighth illegal tattooist. The sky had already darkened. With all the factories around, not even the moon was visible in the night sky.

‘I’m getting tired. I’ll check the eighth one today and save the ninth for tomorrow morning.’

Walking through alleys where the smell of oil was becoming all too familiar, I headed toward a half-ruined bridge. Instead of flowing water, there was only sticky waste oil under the bridge.

And beside the bridge, there was a small shack made from scrap materials.

[Barrier]

Surrounding my body with a barrier, I kicked open the wooden door. Gun ready, I entered.

In the center of the dimly lit room sat a man, relaxed. He looked to be in his fifties, his eyes piercingly sharp as they met mine.

I instantly knew—he was a dark mage.

“So, there’s been talk of a young mage causing trouble… Was it on Lord Ptelgar’s orders?”

“You’re the one who turned a prostitute into a living bomb and sent her to the Ptelgar mansion. Guess my mission’s almost over. Should I consider this good luck?”

I pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew straight, then bounced off my barrier. No surprise there. Dark mages are still mages.

Even if elemental magic is difficult for them, attribute-less…


The magic of the body is used as easily as it is now.

“You. You have no relation to Klaxon, do you? Isn’t that right?”

“What are you talking about? Klaxon hired me.”

“I saw Klaxon. He doesn’t look like a guy stupid enough to use bio-bombs.”

“Judging a man by his appearance alone? How foolish.”

“Besides, Klaxon doesn’t have the money to hire a dark sorcerer like you.”

The dark sorcerer just chuckled wickedly.

I brushed my lips and activated the spell I had prepared.

[Shock Wave]

A powerful shockwave blasted away the objects around me along with the dark sorcerer. I stepped back, distancing myself from the collapsing building.

I frowned. I saw the body of the dark sorcerer caught in the shockwave transform into black smoke.

‘Some kind of illusion? Where’s the real one?’

[Detection]

I spread mana to locate the hidden dark sorcerer.

There he was—hiding in the darkest part beneath the bridge.

[Ice Arrow]

A sharp ice spike appeared before me and shot into the darkness. The dark sorcerer barely jumped out of the way to dodge the Ice Arrow and landed on the ground, grinning wickedly.

“Not bad for someone who uses magic.”

“Stop smirking so annoyingly.”

Just as I was about to cast another spell—

Chik, chik-chik!

The sound of a rat echoed. Looking down, I saw a rat charging fiercely toward me. My face hardened when I noticed the magical sigil on its body.

My mind quickly analyzed what the sigil meant—I had seen this magical formula hours ago, so understanding it came quickly.

‘Biological bomb!’

I accelerated my consciousness.

[Instant (刹那) in use. Remaining stacks: 6]

I formed the incantation. My heightened awareness returned to normal. I consecutively activated the three spells I had prepared.

[Barrier]

[Barrier]

[Barrier]

The rat exploded, shattering one of my barriers completely.

“Your casting speed is absurdly fast. Are you using an artifact to assist your spells?”

“This is purely my own ability.”

“Hah, even a passing dog wouldn’t believe that nonsense. If you don’t want to talk, fine. I’ll kill you and take whatever I need.”

Chik! Chik-chik! Chik-chik!

Rats appeared from all directions, each carrying the biological bomb curse.

“It would be nice if the artifact can withstand explosions well.”

At a glance, more than ten rats were rushing toward me.

[Air Strike]

I used Air Strike toward the ground, breaking one of the barriers surrounding me. The shockwave spread in all directions, instantly blowing away the charging rats.

I bought a little time. From my coat, I reloaded the clip into my pistol and opened fire on the rats rushing at me again.

Bang! Pow! Bang-bang!

The rats hit by bullets exploded. Scrap metal and old furniture scattered around were swept up by the explosion, floating in the air.

“One-shot accuracy… quite impressive, my friend. But what will you do about this? Bombs are limitless.”

No matter where they came from, rats kept appearing endlessly. Eventually, my bullets ran out. Discarding the pistol, I used the prepared magic.

[Reverse Gravity]

Gravity reversed.

Pieces of scrap metal and wood scraps around me floated into the air. There must have been thousands of them.

‘The feeling of grasping the entire space…!’

[Telekinesis]

The floating fragments halted simultaneously. It was a fantastical scene, as if time had stopped. However, there was no time to enjoy it. Clenching my teeth, I squeezed every ounce of remaining mana and focus.

Thousands of fragments rained down on the dark sorcerer.

“Telekinesis?! What madness…!”

The dark sorcerer tried to flee, but it was too late.

Thousands of fragments shattered the barrier protecting the dark sorcerer and pierced deep into his body. Without even a scream, the dark sorcerer met his end.

The rats charging toward me suddenly stopped. They looked around, as if assessing the situation, then dispersed in all directions.